Yomega Fireball - 2004 Yomega World Yo-Yo Competition
Exhibit #4988
Type
Special Release
Shape
Modified
Axle
Transaxle - Plastic
Color
Black/White/Light Blue
Packaging
Bubble Carded
Construction
Multi-piece plastic
Response
Starburst
Diameter
58.20mm
Width
35mm
Gap
Fixed
Weight
51.57gm
Condition
Mint
Date
2004
Owner
Rick Brough
Compare
Yomega Fireball - 2004 Yomega World Yo-Yo Competition & Convention special edition. Yomega hosted the annual event from 1999 to 2004. The same side cap design was used on both sides of the yo-yo.
In May 2019, Steve Brown posted information about the contest and convention on the YoYoExpert forum. He said, "Yomega ran the Y3A [Yomega Yo-Yo Association] contest a few times. I attended one (maybe two?) and it was their attempt at a more casual 'convention' feel of a yo-yo event. It didn’t quite work for a few different reasons. It was in Vegas but at the only family resort in Vegas [that did not have] gambling, so a huge chunk of the appeal of Vegas was removed for the sake of being more family friendly. But families still want to gamble in Vegas so they just all left and went to other hotels and casinos. It was still a competition, but at the time they weren’t pulling the highest-level competitors in all divisions so it felt uneven. And there weren’t enough side activities to keep people really occupied during the weekend. Overall, it felt more like a stretched out mall event (great outreach!) than a contest and would have probably worked better as a mall tour of one day events instead of a single big two day destination."
Photos of the event program courtesy of Steve Brown who attended the 2004 event and for which the yo-yo in this exhibit was made. Photo of 1st place trophy for 2A competition (looping) from the event courtesy of "AzHP" (name used on YoYoExpert forum).
